The findings of the new Scottish Victimisation Telephone Survey (SVTS) 2020 has been published. It asked people about their experiences and perceptions of crime, safety, and policing. The results are based on a sample of around 2,700 telephone interviews conducted in September and October 2020. The survey is designed to be nationally representative of all private residential households in Scotland.
It includes:
- Most adults (91%) were not victims of any crime between September 2019 and September 2020. The likelihood of experiencing crime was higher for those living in urban areas, with those aged 60 and over least likely to be victims.
- 67% of all crime measured by the SVTS was property-related, with the remaining third (33%) being violent crime.
- Around 3% of the adult population of Scotland experienced multiple victimisation, whereby they experienced two or more incidents of any crime. This group experienced 61% of all crime recorded by the SVTS.
- An estimated 41% of crimes reported in the survey came to the attention of the police in some way.
- Around three-in-four (75%) adults felt safe when walking alone in their local area after dark and most people (87%) reported no change in how safe they felt walking alone in their local area after dark since the virus outbreak.
The full report can be accessed here.